Another Kind of Fairy Tale
by Djinns
Summary: [Femslash] Trying to avoid cliche, even though it's stupid because we have been writing about love for centuries...
1. Chapter 1

A/N: Sara's thoughts are in italic. First CSI fic, so don't flame me if it sucks... nor if you dislike femslash.

The seventy-year-old man's eyes were still open as he laid on the chair in front of his computer. His throat was cut open, but he wasn't bleeding anymore. According to the amount of blood on the floor, he had been killed there. Catherine hated the soft light of the screen that was coloring the corpse's face. It felt like a nightmare.

"The man was quite busy tonight…" Warrick said. The blonde agent didn't answer, but noticed few traces of sperm on the chair and on the undone pants of the dead man. She shot a glare at the screen, only to see a naked three-year-old girl crying. The picture made her sick.

"I'll go check on the rest of the apartment." Catherine left in a hurry, unable to work beside the pedophile. Dead or alive, they all remained the same to her. She brought her attention to the only window of the apartment that was in the old man's room. She barely lifted her eyes as she heard Sofia coming in.

"Peter Dobson. Seventy years old. Lived alone, was released from prison ten years ago."

The blonde CSI noted the facts mentally as she turned to Sofia.

"This window hasn't been open for months… Nobody came in from there."

"Maybe the door was unlocked", Sofia suggested. Catherine nodded before walking out of the room, followed by the detective. "Or maybe he knew his murderer."

In the living room, the couch was turned into a bed. The CSI found a few hairs on the sheets, as well as some fibres. She processed the rest of the room, until Warrick came in.

"You're finished?"

"Yeah… apart from those hairs, there was nothing much… Looks like the person who was in here didn't stay for long."

Warrick looked around. "Long enough to kill a man."

Sara opened her locker and avoided looking at the mirror. She knew she wasn't at her best: after three hours spent in garbage dump can do that to a person. She sighed, but the smell only became stronger. The door opened, letting Catherine in.

"What's that smell?"

Sara raised her hand and explained: "Garbage dump."

The blonde smiled and sat down. The silence made Sara uncomfortable.

"Tough shift?"

The other woman turned to look at the brunette.

"Found a dead pedophile…", Catherine whispered. The other woman sent her a comforting look. _Don't stare, Sidle. Keep it cool. _"You really should get in the shower you know?"

Catherine's smile widened at the absence of reaction of the brunette. "Sara, you're usually sexy when you stare, but the smell is actually a turn-off."

Sidle's cheeks turned to red as she turned her attention back to her locker. "Yeah, I better go.", she said fastly before leaving towards the showers. _Did she really say I'm sexy? That must be a joke. A little joke between two heterosexual friends. Although I'm bi... but Catherine doesn't know that._

The water on her face stopped the thoughts in her brain. She felt a huge silence overcoming her, the same that she had each time she was concentrated on her job. Although this one didn't require any work: she thought that it must be the way babies feel inside their mother. The thought of her family and her past broke the peaceful warm, and she fastly washed herself before coming back to her locker. To her surprise, the blonde was still there, staring at the floor. A sadness overcame Sara as she noticed that Catherine had been truly touched by her earlier case.

"You're okay, Willows?", she asked softly.

"Yeah... I got lost in my thoughts." Catherine smiled and stood up. _Again, Sidle, stop staring like an idiot._

The blonde smiled as she closed her locker. "You stare **and** you just got out of the shower?", Catherine whispered as she walked to the brunette. "Are you trying to seduce me, Sidle?"

_Err no. Not that I know about. I should say something now, otherwise she'll know that I want her. _

As she opened her mouth to answer, Warrick and Nick came in. Sara thanked them a thousand times in her head, took her things and left the room with a small goodbye to the group. She heard Catherine laugh at something Nick said before closing the door behind her, and felt relieved to see that the blonde wasn't feeling sad anymore. She got into her car and drove to her apartment, wondering if Grissom would like having her around tonight. She didn't feel like being alone, she didn't want to have the possibility to think about that conversation in the lockeroom.

She waited an hour before calling her boyfriend, to make sure he would be there when she'd call. She hated to leave him a message, since he rarely listened to them. Plus, she liked his voice on the phone. It always sounded comforting, welcoming.

"Grissom."

Sara smiled when she heard him answer the phone.

"Gil... You feel like watching a movie ?"

She could sense the smile without seeing him. She knew he was going to say yes.

"Of course. You want me to come by?"

She grabbed her car keys.

"No, I'm coming."

They both hung up. The brunette looked at herself in the mirror, wondering why it was always so easy to talk to Grissom, and so hard to find what to say to Catherine. _Probably because it's not meant to be._

Grissom's kisses weren't soft. She hated the beard, but he didn't want to shave it. He said she had fell in love with the beard too, when she met him, although, now that she was thinking about it, she never told him that she loved him. Maybe she should, one day. Or maybe she already did, but could not remember. Those things happen, too.

"You're beautiful."

She smiled. Grissom liked to whisper when he held her closely, and he always said those same words after making love. She wasn't bored by the redondance: she felt like it was building a space for both of them. She didn't answer and payed attention to his breath as he was falling asleep. The peaceful feeling came back, only to be broken by a little voice inside Sara's head. _You thought about her. While making love to your boyfriend, you thought about her again._

The brunette slowly stood up, trying not to awake her lover. She put her clothes back on, took a last look at her sleeping boyfriend, and left the bedroom. Sara wrote him a note, saying she had insomnia and decided to go back to her apartment. It wasn't the first time this was happening: their relationship had been going on for months now, and she had slept only two nights with Grissom. Although she always felt calmed and relaxed when she was with him, she hated sleeping in the same bed.

_I always had trouble with sleeping. I cannot picture a time where I didn't have nightmares or insomnia. It doesn't mean that I don't love Grissom._

She had told him about those problems, and even if he wanted to help, he understood that she needed him to backoff. At least for now.

The CSI drove back to her place, feeling the urge to go to sleep. _You could've stayed there. You left because you feel bad; you know you're playing with his feelings. You were never physically attracted to Grissom. Never._

Sara entered her apartment and went straight to her bed. She fell asleep within a few minutes, repeating to herself that love wasn't all about sex.


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: Sara's thoughts are in italic. And I'm sorry if this is short, my computer's dying, and I'm grieving.

Sara sighed as she finished her beer. Beside her, Catherine laughed at Nick's joke, as Warrick came back with two bottles. He sat near the brunette and handed her a beer.

"Wow… Thanks War." She smiled at him, and noticed Greg on the dancing floor, a few meters away from them. She liked to watch him dance, because he always moved as if there was nobody around. He seemed free, letting his body follow the rhythm, sometimes not letting it follow, as if he was fighting against the sound.

"You want to dance, Sidle?" Nick asked, laughing. They all knew the brunette wasn't the dancing type. She preferred listening to the music and drinking. Two activities that were simpler than moving around to the sound of what seemed to be a pop-rock-orgy. She took a sip of her drink and stood up. Sara felt all eyes staring at her when she walked to the dance floor, only to cross it and go to the bathroom. In the mirror, she noticed that she was smiling. She didn't since when, but she enjoyed it. A night with her coworkers… she didn't remember who had proposed coming here, but it was a nice place. _Am I happy because I'm not with Grissom, talking about work? No, it must be because we're having fun. Sara Sidle is having fun… Okay._

When she came back at the table, she learned that Greg had already left. She sat beside Warrick, whose arm was resting on the back of her chair. She didn't mind, she knew he was not trying to seduce her. Sara pretended not to see David's looks at her: she disliked the idea of him liking her. She didn't know why: when Greg was coming on to her, she never felt like this. _Maybe it's because he doesn't know I'm having sex with his boss._

"Warrick? What the hell?" The man turned his face to meet his wife's anger. He stood up, kissed her softly on the lips, but the woman didn't relax. "Who is she?" She was pointing at Sara, whose mouth was open from the inability to think or talk.

"Sara? You're jealous of Sara?" Warrick smiled. "Don't worry, she's lesbian."

The brunette felt a fire in her stomach. She thought she'd be sick, but nothing was happening. Missing oxygen at the brain: need air. She gasped and hoped that her shock hadn't been apparent.

"Yeah, she's mine." Catherine's voice came as a blow, but the brunette felt a grin on her face as the blonde took her hand. Their bodies were now very close, and Sara felt her whole skin glittering. She secretly wished that the lie would go further, that the blonde would lean in and kiss her softly, but it didn't happen. Instead, she watched Warrick and his wife go on the dance floor, and Nick heading for the redheaded girl he was staring at for the past hours.

_Why is she still holding my hand? They're not even here! Oh how I hope she'll never get her hands off me…_

David was staring at them, and the brunette got scared. What if he knew that she wanted Catherine? He stood up and went at the bar to get another drink, leaving the two women alone at the table.

"You know, you can let go, Catherine…" Sara murmured, unable to accept the silence that was going on between them. It was filled with her desire, and she could not let herself go down that road.

"I feel good, like this… Close to you.", the blonde whispered in her ear. A shiver went down her spine as Catherine continued. "It doesn't bother you, honey?"

David came back as Sara smiled at the blonde. _She's driving me nuts. Catherine has special powers, I'm sure of that. Nobody can have that effect on someone and still be totally human._

Catherine stood up, Sara's hand still in hers. Warrick arrived at the table.

"You're leaving or dancing?"

The blonde smiled. "We'll do both. We're leaving, and then I'll dance for Sara…"

She laughed and said goodbye to everybody. Then she called the taxis, and as she left in hers, Sara sighed. _Hello, empty bed. Can't say I missed you._

"I'm tired." Catherine's voice woke Sara from her daydreaming. Eyes still on the interior of her locker, she stared as if she was thinking about something important. In fact, she was picturing the blonde, wondering why she had acted like she was interested in Sara. _Fuck women… Guys are easier to figure out: they don't get all touchy, never call each other "honey", and their sexual comments can always be understood as a seduction attempt. Women are more complicated: they come on to you, but just as a joke. They hold your hand, but just because you are friends. Friends… Fuck friends too!_

"Sara? Somebody in there?" Catherine's hand waved before the brunette's eyes. She flashed a smile and excused herself for not listening. The blonde CSI repeated: "I think we should do that again, Nick, Warrick, Greg, David and us. What do you think?"

_I think you said "us" and it felt nice. _

"We… definitely should. It was great."

"What was great?", Greg asked as he entered the lockerroom. He smiled at both women before sitting down at the opposite side of the room.

"You would've known if you hadn't left so early yesterday…" Catherine laughed as he pouted. The blonde woman started fixing her hair. Sara felt the urge to say something, afraid to drown in her thoughts again. She hated to lose contact with the world when Catherine was around.

"Who did you take home this time?", she asked, her voice sounding more severe than she wanted. She knew the others would probably think this was jealousy: Greg had stopped asking her out a couple of months ago. She flashed him a smile, mentally kicking herself for being unable to have a soft voice around people. She could only be tender with one: when there were more than one individual in front of her, she felt like she had something to protect in her.

"I think his name was Michael…", the man replied. _His voice sounds like a sun. He seems warm, happy, all the time. I wonder how he does that._

"I didn't know you were attracted to men…" Catherine turned to look at Greg, who just smiled.

"I'm attracted to beauty. In all forms." He stood up and opened his locker. Sara wondered how he could act so cool about sexuality and pretty much everything… She promised herself to ask Grissom about that. He liked studying human behaviors, and, even if it seemed weird to her, he understood it well. She sighed at the idea that her boyfriend knew more about communication than she did.


	3. Chapter 3

A/N : Sara's thoughts are in italic. Greg's sexuality is not going to be discussed here: it was a wink at my friend (who'd like to marry Sanders ASAP!). Anyway, thanks for the reviews! I always enjoy knowing I'm writing for someone else than myself… makes me feel less insane.

Stokes stared at the dead body for a minute, waiting for Sidle to arrive next to him. She was slow tonight; she probably had something on her mind. He pointed his torch toward the beard of the corpse, wondering what his age was. Around the sixties, he guessed. Before he had time to picture himself at that age, the brunette arrived.

"You take the body, I take a look around?"

Without waiting for an answer, she left. Nick sighed and continued staring at the corpse that was lying on the ground, on the side of the road. No signs of struggle, no blood. He searched the ground beside the dead man: no evidences.

Sara was walking in the forest beside the road. She had seen a little path, from which she thought the victim was coming by. It ended after a couple of feet: he probably came there to pee, then walked back to the street. But no vehicles were found near by… She kneeled at the sight of a liquid beside a tree. She took a picture and a sample of it, aware that it did only prove her theory and gave no clue about the man's death. She smiled: if he had been drugged, an analysis would be helpful.

"Found anything, Nicky?"

The man raised his head when he heard Sara's voice.

"Only a few footsteps that show the man didn't fall from the sky. And you?"

"Same thing. But I think our guy came here to pee."

Stokes stood up and walked to the road, looking around.

"I don't see his car."

"Then maybe he did fall from the sky after all… Like an angel" Sara bent down beside the body, looking puzzled. "You IDed the vic?"

Nick brought his attention back to his partner.

"Yeah. Roger Bigman."

He noticed some marks on the ground near him, and took a few pictures. The wheels seemed too big to be a car's.

"Sara? I think our angel came here by bus."

(only way I found to separate the scenes… weird computer)

"How's the case going?" Grissom asked without emotion. _I hate it when he talks like that, and he always does._

"Nick and I are about to leave to ask a few questions to the bus driver. We're still waiting for the autopsy report."

The man smiled before going away, letting Sara alone in front of the break room's door. She sighed: her boyfriend really sucked at being nice. He hadn't say a word about her tiredness, didn't even seem to notice. _I wish you could look at me without this scientific glare in your eyes, at least once…_

"Ready to go?"

"I'm driving." Sara answered Nick before walking to the parking lot. On the way, she met Catherine, and forced herself to not stare at her. Now wasn't the time. She concentrated on her case, and on the questions Stokes and she had to ask the bus driver. She made it to the car in a minute, as Nick followed in silence.

"Who killed him, you think?" Sidle frowned at the other agent's question.

"Who?" Nick smiled briefly.

"Our angel, Sara… who killed him?"

She smiled back. "God, maybe."

The rest of the drive remained in silence, although Sara did sing a bit along the way. Nick couldn't recognize the song, but he felt relaxed. Sidle's voice was calming: he knew she was concentrating on the case, and so, feeling well. He had been worried, because Warrick said Sara looked tired these days. He smiled at her softly as she stopped the car.

"I'm the bad cop," he said, "so you have to be the nice one."

Sara smiled back. "I'm not a cop."

They entered the building and met the bus driver in the garage, where he was checking his bus.

"Jay Black?"

The man turned around to face them.

"Yeah, that's me… Who are you?"

"I'm Nick Stokes, this is Sara Sidle. We're from the crime lab. We have a few questions for you."

Black agreed, and listened to the brunette as she questioned him.

"Yeah, I remember that day. I stopped before entering the town, I felt like I was going to be sick. I told my passengers to remain in the bus, and I went near the wood to throw up. I think I hate bad food. Why?"

"One of your passengers was found dead beside the road." Stokes said with a cold gaze. He showed him a photo of the victim. "Recognize him?"

"I know he was in my bus, but I don't remember him much… I meet many persons a day so…" The bus driver's smile had now completely disappeared. "What happened to him?"

Sara frowned. "That's what we're trying to know. Call us if you remember anything."

In the break room, Sara was drinking her coffee, waiting for Nick to arrive. He was late, she was getting pissed and her drink was getting cold. She looked at one of Grissom's crossword puzzle that lay on the table, resisting the need to fill in the blanks. He hated when she did that.

She didn't hear Catherine coming in.

"You're busy tonight?" The blonde asked.

"I'm waiting for Nick." The brunette answered. _I wish you wouldn't pay attention to me. It would really be simpler, you know?_

"Oh… I meant, after shift." Catherine explained, moving toward Sara. _You smell too good, I can't think when you're so close… Fucking Sidle! You're too emotive. Calm yourself, for God's sake!_

"Hum… then… no, I'm not busy." _I should've said I was. What if Grissom wants me to come by? But how the hell could I refuse anything from Catherine…?_

"You're up for a beer? Lindsay's at a friend's house…"

Sara finished her coffee. "I'm in." _I hope she's going to hold my hand again. Shit, I'm thinking like a schoolgirl now!_ "Who's coming with us?"

The blonde flashed a smile. "It's just me and you, Sidle."

Before Sara could answer something, Nick entered the break room in a hurry.

"Sorry, I'm late..."

Without a word, the brunette and the man left the room, leaving a smiling Catherine behind. Sara was glad she didn't have to continue to talk to the blonde CSI: she preferred when she could think about what to say before having a conversation. She liked planning the words, even though they rarely came out the way she wanted them to be.

Al Robbins was working on a female body when they entered the room. Nick looked at Sara, then at the coroner.

"Where's our man?"

Robbins raised his head.

"Heart attack. Your man's death has nothing to do with a murder. I finished with him an hour ago."

The brunette stared at him. While she felt glad her case was closed, still something seemed to be missing.

"Why haven't you called me? I thought I asked you to keep me posted…"

The legist started to cut open the girl on his table. He didn't look at them when he answered briefly.

"You can still take a look at the body if you feel like it."

Nick raised his voice.

"So the guy goes in the forest to pee even though the driver asked everybody to remain in the bus. But when he comes back, the bus is gone…"

"Because the driver thought everybody was in. The shock of being left alone, on the side of the road… could it provoke a heart attack?"

The brunette asked Al, who stopped his work with the dead body to answer.

"His heart was in a bad condition: it wouldn't surprise me."

Nick smiled at Sidle.

"So I guess you were right: it's God who killed him."

A/N: Next chapter: beer with Catherine! Yeah!


	4. Chapter 4

Bottle in hand, Sara stared at the gorgeous woman in front of her. She had imagine this moment a thousand times, but the words she said in those dreams were impossible to find. Her memory had kept Catherine's lips on hers, the feelings and the urge, the passion... but not the words that had came before all that.

Catherine was looking at the dance floor, probably wondering if Sidle would ask her to dance, eventually. It was clear that she wanted too, but the brunette seemed to be unable to talk. Willows smiled as she felt Sara's gaze on her face.

"Sara? You ok?", Catherine gently asked, coming closer to her friend.

"Yeah... I was just... lost in my thoughts."

The blonde's smile widen as she whispered into the other woman's ear:

"And what were you thinking about, Sidle?"

The brunette felt a shiver down her spine, and suddenly all thoughts went out of her head. She felt it again, like in her dream: the need to have Catherine's body locked with hers.

"Just... you and I."

Catherine placed her hand on Sara's stomach, causing an acceleration of her heartbeat and the loss of her breath. _I'm losing it. Kiss me Cath..._

"I see."

The blonde came closer to the brunette's face. When their lips started to touch, she backed away, grabbed Sara's beer and took a long sip. _Fuck you! What was that?_

"What the hell?" _Have I said that out loud?_

Catherine gave back the bottle before coming closer again.

"Cath?"

The CSI agent stopped, but did not move.

"Yeah?"

Sara put her bottle on the table, trying to get her senses back, but Catherine's presence so close to her was getting her crazy.

"I never had the chance to tell you that I have a boyfriend." _Wow Sidle. That never happened in your dreams! Why are you ruining this? Don't you know you're going to hate yourself forever?_

The blonde backed away again, not knowing what to say. Sara mentally kicked herself for mentionning her relationship.

"Who is it?", asked Catherine, who's face suddenly changed. "It's Grissom, right?"

Sidle looked down on the floor, hoping that the blonde did not see how the name made her feel uncomfortable.

"Woa... I can't believe it."

Sara raised her head. _What now? You think I'm not good enough for him? You thought he'd never pay attention to me? You're mad he hasn't fucked you in the first place?_

"Why? You thought he'd never love me?"

Catherine's expression transformed from surprise to frustration.

"That's not what I meant. I just can't believe you love him."

_That's quite funny, 'cause I can't either. _

"Oh..." _Wow. Anybody would admire your abilities to communicate, Sidle!_

The blonde's gaze went back to the dance floor, as Sara continued to stare at her.

"You uhhh... want to dance?", an uncomfortable brunette asked.

Catherine answered by taking Sara's hand and leading her to the dance floor. Sidle repeated herself a thousand times how she hated to dance while Catherine pressed her body against hers. The blonde seemed to disappear for a second, only to place herself behind the brunette.

"Sara...", the woman whispered in Sara's ear, her hands on the brunette's thighs. "You want me, don't you?"

She then started to kiss Sara's neck softly. A soft moan came out of the brunette's lips as she stopped dancing to enjoy the moment. She turned to lock eyes with Catherine.

"Kiss me, Sidle."

Sara obeyed, suddenly forgetting the people around them. She felt Catherine's soft lips, wondering if she could deepen the kiss now. Just as she was going to let go and let her tongue in the blonde's mouth, the other CSI agent ended the kiss. Sidle felt like she was just hit in her stomach.

"Let's go somewhere else.", Catherine stated, going back to the table to grab her things.

"Why?"

The blonde pointed out a group of guys, and Sara started to understand what they were saying.

"Yeah baby! Fuck her on the dance floor!" "Get ready for my dick, ladies!"

Sara felt like she was going to be sick. Catherine took her hand again, and lead her out of the bar without a word. They went into the car, and locked the doors.

"Don't worry. I know that kind of guys. They yell all they want, but they won't come after us."

Sidle smiled, fighting the urge to go back inside and kick their asses.

"They don't even deserve it."

The brunette looked at the blonde, knowing she hadn't say her thoughts out loud. She smiled, feeling understood. Only Grissom had been able to make her feel that way: she thought it was true love, and denied her homosexuality to start a relationship with him. But after the first time they kissed, she had realise that it was only a friendship, and that she could never be attracted by him. The need of being understood had won, however, over the need of a love life. The lies were easier.

"You... want to come to my place?", Sara asked, hoping the other wouldn't refuse. The kiss they had shared was not enough, and she thought no kiss from Catherine would ever be enough.

The blonde started the engine. "I thought you'd never ask."


End file.
